Under a light drizzle, the Metropolitan Police entered the so-called Bronx, one of the most difficult areas of Medellín. With stunned looks, several people allowed themselves to be searched. Between Cúcuta and La Paz, in the center, is this neighborhood that is already part of the collective imagination of the city. The result of the operation speaks for itself: 4.6 tons of garbage were removed from the place.
The majority of the city’s street dwellers are concentrated in the Bronx. It is an area where the consumption and sale of drugs is done in the open. It was formed in 2018, when the previous Bronx, which was located on Avenida de Greiff, was dismantled. Since then, hundreds of people have landed between Cúcuta and La Paz, creating a new space without god or law.
Well, on the morning of this January 4, 80 police officers arrived in the sector. In addition to the 4 tons of garbage, they seized 856 grams of narcotics and 72 bladed weapons.. It must be said that knife fights there are frequent. In a previous report, EL COLOMBIANO recorded a machete fight between two men.
The Bronx is a land invaded by people in absolute need, with drug addiction problems. They have turned those streets into a fort and, with plastic, they protect themselves from the sun and rain. In the operation, the Police dismantled 23 tents that street dwellers had installed in public spaces.
Alexander Garnica, commander of the Candelaria station, clarified that the intervention was accompanied by the Ombudsman and that it had the purpose, in addition to recovering public space, to recover security for the merchants in the sector. After removing the 4 tons of garbage, Emvarias will do a cleaning day.
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It must be said, however, that the underlying problem continues. In fact, there is a ruling by the Antioquia Administrative Court, handed down in May of last year, which gave the institutions four months to repair the damage that homeless people have done to the sector. It had to be a fundamental solution, also taking into account the needs of the homeless themselves and their addiction to drugs.
This has not been fulfilled and the inhabitants and merchants of the sector, more than a cleaning, implore for a comprehensive solution.
The other big problem is that micro-trafficking is the engine of the Bronx. A short pass is enough to hear such implausible proclamations as “rocks, cripa, wheels” or “clonazepan, the one that makes you explode”. They also offer blue, red pills, in full view of the world. It’s common to see men pull out knives, smash bricks to the ground, or chip an old television to get something out of it that can be sold. In the midst of the hubbub, for example, a man pulls out a machete and threatens a colleague, who only manages to cover himself with a cardboard box.
The problem of homeless people has not been resolved by this or previous administrations. Instead of shrinking, it looks like a balloon that is inflating and everyone hopes it won’t burst.